A young ballet dancer is stepping into the spotlight as she takes on the country’s best.

Emma Tomkins is the only Cumbrian to be selected for the prestigious dance contest.

The 14-year-old, who lives near Hethersgill, is heading to Manchester tomorrow (Sat) to take part in the the International Dance Theatre Awards, being held at the Royal Northern College of Music.

The contest is organised by the International Dance Teachers’ Association and her class is comprised of the best people who have sat ballet exams at high grades.

A total of 500 have been selected out of around 7,500 who have taken these tests in the last 12 months.

The event will see entrants given moves and tasks to complete, which will make use of their ballet knowledge.

It is a knockout competition which will take place over several hours involving many rounds.

Emma attends classes at Nicola Ivinson’s School of Dance, which meets in both Brampton and Ivegill.

She has been preparing herself for the competition with her instructor.

Emma said: “I am pretty scared but I am also really excited.”

She has been practicing ballet since the age of three and attends regular classes.

Alongside this, she also tries to practice her moves wherever she can find space on her parents’ farm.

Emma is delighted to have been chosen and has her own tactics for beating stage fright.

She said: “I just block out the crowd and perform, it is quite difficult.

“They will explain a piece to me and I will then have to perform it.

“I am preparing and am just running through things and learning my ballet terms.” This later part of the work is quite difficult as many ballet terms are in French and she will have to respond to them very quickly in the examinations.

Competing at the event is good preparation for her planned career, as the teenager is determined to have a career as a dancer.

Miss Ivinson is delighted with her young student.

She said: “She definitely deserves to be there, she did her grade five exams last year and I helped her prepare.

“We had private lessons and she was practicing at home.

“I think she has got a very good chance.”